"No two people see the external world in exactly the same way. To every separate person a thing is what he thinks it is -- in other words, not a thing, but a think." - Penelope Fitzgerald

Jun 19, 2015

If 'Insanity Is Doing The Same Thing Over & Over Again And Expecting Different Results' Then Kansas Has Gone Certifiably Insane

Albert Einstein said that insanity was to do the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. It certainly seems like a safe assumption to make. If you keep putting water into a bucket with a hole in it and don't stop as soon as you notice the huge hole at the bottom of the bucket then you would certainly look crazy. That's what it looks like you you keep using economic policies with a proven track record of failure (for people who clearly don't understand arithmetic).

Brownback has a proven record of using Koch Brother economics promoted by Fox News and we know exactly where those sort of policies lead... to economic ruin (though theft may be a possibility as well, anyways);

Very dictatorship like. Forcing ideas on the people through intimidation and threats. That's exactly what dictators do, do they not?

Keep in mind that none of the promises using fake economics works (if math doesn't add up, it's fake... you may need to look at how the numbers are being "added up")...

There are two main problems with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) far-right economic experiment. The first is that the plan didn’t work – it didn’t create the promised jobs boom; it didn’t create massive growth; and it didn’t cause businesses to stampede into the state.

Then watch this video illustrating what Gov Sam Brownback did with his experiment in verifiable fake economics;

If the spectacular failures of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) economic experiment, and the ensuing budget crisis, were the only stories dominating the state, it would be more than enough to put the Sunflower State on national front pages.

But recent developments in Kansas go much, much further. Consider this New York Timesreport from the weekend:

The fight between Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas and the state’s judicial branch has escalated, with the governor last week signing into law a bill that could strip state courts of their funding.

The measure, at the end of a lengthy bill that allocated money for the judiciary this year, stipulates that if a state court strikes down a 2014 law that removed some powers from the State Supreme Court, the judiciary will lose its funding.

Think about that for a minute. Elected state officials in the Republican-led capital want state courts to endorse a policy on the makeup and budget of Kansas courts. But before the judges decide, those same officials have said the courts’ funding hangs in the balance.

As Rachel noted on the show two weeks ago, before Brownback signed the measure late last week, “ ‘You rule one way, you’re fine. You rule the other way, we will abolish the courts.’ So go ahead and consider that case, Kansas judges. Enjoy your judicial independence.”

There are two main problems with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s (R) far-right economic experiment. The first is that the plan didn’t work – it didn’t create the promised jobs boom; it didn’t create massive growth; and it didn’t cause businesses to stampede into the state.

The second problem is the challenge of dealing with the consequences of failure. The Republican governor’s plan, after causing a debt downgrade, left a significant hole in Kansas’ state budget, which GOP policymakers have struggled badly to fill.

A few days ago, however, the Republican-run state government grudgingly approved a new budget, which actually included tax increases. Reluctant lawmakers said Brownback hadn’t left them much of a choice – Brownback effectively told the state legislature to raise sales taxes and cigarette taxes or he’d slash funding even more on education and disability services.

From a distance, it might seem as if this were a liberal solution to a conservative problem – Kansas Republicans got themselves in a jam by cutting taxes too much, and to put things right, they decided to start raising taxes to fix the problem. But the details matter and that’s not quite right.

The Kansas City Star’s Dave Helling explained it’s not just a matter of asking Kansans to pay more – it’s a question of which Kansans will pay more.

[N]o group, experts believe, gets hurt more than the state’s low- and moderate-income workers, those earning between $30,000 and $50,000 a year. They now face higher taxes on essential purchases without most of the subsidies that protect poorer Kansans from government’s bite.

Low-income workers, unlike those with significantly higher earnings, must watch their pennies carefully to pay for other essentials such as transportation and housing. Soon, more of those pennies – which quickly grow to dollars – will be on their way to Topeka.

Let’s call this what it is: a redistribution of wealth, from the bottom up. Kansas is keeping its tax breaks for the wealthy, while approving tax increases – by some measures, “the largest tax increase in state history” – that will disproportionately affect those at the bottom.

Quotes

"Make peace with the universe. Take joy in it. It will turn to gold. Resurrection will be now. Every moment, a new beauty." - Rumi

"God is a metaphor for that which transcends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that." - Joseph Campbell

"Naturally, every age thinks that all ages before it were prejudiced, and today we think this more than ever and are just as wrong as all previous ages that thought so. How often have we not seen the truth condemned! It is sad but unfortunately true that man learns nothing from history." - Carl Jung

"Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those which are caused by difference of sentiments in religion appear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and liberal policy, which has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Christians of every denomination so far that we should never again see the religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the peace of society." - George Washington

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” - Dalai Lama

“Be empty of worrying. Think of who created thought! Why do you stay in prison. When the door is so wide open?” ― Rumi